Albany, CA - In our time living abroad in Switzerland, I learned a very little amount of German. German is a confusing and wonderful language and I'll take you on a brief journey of the things I learned.
Compound Words
German is famous for its compound words, of which there are many. In fact, once you know a decent amount of root words, you can sometimes figure out the meaning of new words just by breaking the word apart into its various components.
For example:
- dafur: da (there) fur (for) - therefore
- Zahnfleisch: Zahn (tooth) fleisch (meat) - gums
- Zahnarzt: Zahn (tooh) arzt (doctor) - Dentist
- The Zeugs: there are a number of these...
- flugzeug: flug (flight) zeug (thing) - airplane
- fahrzeug - fahr (drive) zeug (thing) - vehicle
- feuerzeug - feuer (fire) zeug (thing) - lighter
- Spielzeug - spiel (play) zeug (thing) - toy
Tongue Twisters
German is famous for its long and hard-to-pronounce words. Here are a few I encountered.
- Geschwindigskeit - speed
- verpfliptichgung - obligation
- Selbstverstandlich - Of course
- Sehenswürdigkeiten - Tourist attraction
- Backpfeifengesicht - Someone deserving a face slap
This clip of Christoph Waltz on Jimmy Fallon provides some other humorous examples.
Genders
Like many Indo-European languages, the German language has three different types of nouns (genders): masculine, feminine, and neuter. At some point in the distant past, genders may have served a clear and useful purpose - I've read in the past genders were used to separate animate and inanimate things - but today their primary purpose seems to be to frustrate the language learner and to give grammar snobs one more way to look down on the rest of us.
I could write at length about my frustrating experience with German's genders - the numerous times I failed a Duolingo lesson only because I forgot that a cupboard is masculine, for example - but I'm unlikely to outdo Mark Twain, so instead I will share with you a small segment from A Tramp Abroad, in which he describes some of his experience learning German:
Every noun has a gender, and there is no sense or system in the distribution; so the gender of each must be learned separately and by heart. There is no other way. To do this one has to have a memory like a memorandum-book. In German, a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has. Think what overwrought reverence that shows for the turnip, and what callous disrespect for the girl. See how it looks in print--I translate this from a conversation in one of the best of the German Sunday-school books:
"Gretchen: Wilhelm, where is the turnip?
Wilhelm: She has gone to the kitchen.
Gretchen: Where is the accomplished and beautiful English maiden?
Wilhelm: It has gone to the opera."
If you're interested in reading Twain's entire diatribe in full, it's here.
Separable Verbs
Separable verbs were another frustrating feature of German. Essentially, they allow a perfectly good verb to be broken into two bits: One piece goes in its normal grammatical place and the other gets stuck on the back of a sentence for no discernable reason. This can happen when the verb is a compound word and where the root words are a preposition and another verb. For example, "aussehen" means 'look'. It's a compound verb that combines the root words "aus" (out) and "sehen" (see).
This is an example of aussehen being separated:
strassen sehen mit Häuser besser aus (streets look better with houses)
"Ankommen" is a compound verb meaning 'arrive'. It combines the root words "an" (on/at) and "kommen" (come). This is an example of ankommen being separated:
sie kommen bald an (they arrive soon)
Context
As with many languages, the meaning of words can change dramatically depending on the context in which they are used. "Sie" for example, could mean: 'you' (formal form), 'they', 'she', or 'her'. "Ihr" could mean: 'y'all' (plural you), 'her', or 'your'.
Sometimes, the shifting meaning of the words seemed to explain a lot about German culture. For example, bestimmung means regulation, but also (sort of) destiny.
Idioms and Strange Phrases
German - like many languages - is full of idioms and strange phrases that make little or no sense to non-German speakers. Here are some examples:
- Nein, mir ist nicht danach - Literally: No, for me it is not according. Meaning: I don't feel like it
- Es tut mir leid - Literally: It does for me unfortunate. Meaning: Sorry
- Leben ist kein Ponyhof - Literally: Life is not a pony farm. Meaning: Life isn't easy
- Kummerspeck - Literally: Grief Bacon. Meaning: Excess weight put on by emotional overeating
- Jetzt haben wir den Salat - Literally: Now we have the salad. Meaning: Now everything is a mess
- Du gehst mir auf den Keks - Literally: You are walking on my cookie. Meaning: You're annoying me.
- Leben wie Gott in Frankreich - Literally: Live like god in France. Meaning: Live in luxury.
- Luftschloss - Literally: Air castle. Meaning: An idea that's unlikely to come true
- Klappe zu, Affe tot - Literally: Close the lid, the monkey is dead. Meaning: It's the end.
- Treppenwitz - Literally: Staircase joke. Meaning: A witty joke or retort that only occurs to you once the moment has past (you're on the stairs leaving).
- Schattenparker - Literally: shadow parker. Meaning: an insult for men who are seen to be engaging in unmanly behavior; for example looking for shaded parking.
- Jetzt geht’s um die Wurst - Literally: Now it goes around the sausage. Meaning: All or nothing
- Ich versteh nur Bahnhof - Literally: I understand only train station. Meaning: I don't know what you're talking about.
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